Shoe-form



UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

ANDREW w. nocnns, or SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-FORM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,682, dated January29, 1 884,

7 Applicationfiled May 28,1893. (No model.)

in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Im; proveinents in Shoe-Forms; and I do hereby declarethat the same are fully described in the following specification andillustrated in the accompanying drawings. V

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of boot andshoe formers, for which LettersPatent No. 254,150 were issued to WV. 0.Nichols on the 28th day of February, 1882, and of which Letters Patent Iam now the owner. The former shown in the patent alluded to will supportthe instep of a boot or shoe; but it is open to the objection that whenthe last is withdrawn from. the boot or shoe there is no provision toprevent the former from following the movement of the last and I beingwithdrawn with the latter.

The object of my invention is to avoid this objection, which Iaccomplish by a former having the following characteristics, namely: ahollow body portion arched and shaped to the contour of the front topportion and instep of a last, terminating .in side pieces extendingrearwardly and curved at their extremities to pass around the heel endof the last, so that when the last is withdrawn from the boot or shoethe curved extremities of the side pieces abut or bear against the innerside of the heel portion of the boot or shoe and act as stops to preventany rearward movement of the former in withdrawing the last. v

' The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved boot or shoe formershown as placed on the outside of an ordinary last. Fig. 2 represents acrosssection on the line A B, shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 represents aperspective view of the improved former.

Similar letters refer to similar parts whereever they occur on thedifferent parts of the drawings.

a represents an ordinary wooden or metal last, and b represents myimproved hollow or skeleton shoe-former, which, when in use on the last,surrounds the latter, except at the bottom, as theimproved former b ismade bottomless, as shown in Fig. 3.

The improved skeleton former may be made of any required height as maybe desired from gether may be equal to the last ordinarily used inmaking the required size of boot or shoe. The former b is placed on thereduced last a, and the shoe is then lasted thereon in the same manneras on any ordinary solid last. When the shoe is lasted, I pull out thesolid last a and leave the skeleton former 12 within the shoe, by whichthe latter is retained in its proper shape during the subsequent manipwlations until the shoe is finished,when I remove the bottomless skeletonformer b from within the upper of the boot or shoe.

This improved former being without any bottom, the shoe with the formerin it can have the sole sewed or nailed on on a McKay or othersewing-machine, or other various machines, without straining orwrinkling the vamp or upper part of the boot or shoe. It also keeps thesole in its proper shape and does not require the operator to straightenit out in sewing the shoe, as is often the case, and it keeps themachine from running off the inner sole on the inside of the shoe whileit is being stitched. After the sole has been nailed or stitched ontothe shoe, it can be beaten out, have the edge of the soletrimmed and setup, heel nailed on and shaved, and all other parts of the work done on asolid last introduced within the hollow skeleton former in the samemanner as on the ordinary solid lasts. All

and upper part of the shoe from getting strained, wrinkled, or broken upat any time during the manufacture of the shoe.

It is an advantage to most of the operators to have this skeleton formerin the shoe, as it keeps the upper up in its place and away from theedge of the sole while trimming and setting the latter. Vhen the shoe isfinished and ready for packing, I remove the skeleton former b fromwithin the shoe.

By the use of this my improved shoe-former I am able to dispense with agreat percentage of ordinary costly lasts, as the latter are only neededfor lasting the shoes, and consequently are only needed for use a muchshorter time as compared with the old manner of making shoes.

I do not wish to be understood as claiming what is shown in the patenthereinbefore alluded to, or as claiming what is shown in Patent No.227,631, dated May 18, 1880, as such do not constitute my invention.

WVhat I wish to secure by Letters Patent, and claim, is 7 As an improvedarticle of manufacture, the within-described device for expanding theupper of a boot or shoe, consisting of a hollow bottomless body portionarched and shaped to the contour of the front top portion of a last, andterminating in side pieces extending rearward] y and curved at theirextremities to pass around the heel end of the last, and serve toprevent the withdrawal of the former in removing the last, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ANDREW XV. ROGERS. \Vitnesses:

ALBAN AXDREN, HENRY CIIADBOURN.

